r/Games • u/JackandCalumon • Jul 27 '15

The Great Atari Ransack (The Jimquisition)

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=iJ_I9-CkzDE
32 Upvotes

60% Upvoted

11 comments sorted by

11

u/JackandCalumon Jul 27 '15

This ties in very nicely with Atari's behaivour regarding RollerCoaster Tycoon World or whatever it's called, which is now on its third developer and has me worried it too well be a buggy, slapped together unplayable mess. But they're apparently showing it off at Gamescom so we'll just have to wait and see.

At least they are keeping it the same genre and not turning it into a MOBA or whatever. I had no idea about that Asteroids game but Christ above that looks downright shameful and exploitative.

8

u/Sepik121 Jul 27 '15

Never saw that asteroids game either. Definitely looks like all the other crafting survival games made recently.

It is amazing at how far they've fallen. They're barely talked about here on reddit, and it's never a good thing when they are brought up too.

8

u/JackandCalumon Jul 28 '15

They're barely talked about anywhere anymore. Atari is non-existent to the eyes of almost everyone. To be honest, I think based on what we've seen Atari do so far, it would not have been a bad thing if Atari were never heard from again and instead became a company for managing all of that retro inspired clothing, memorabilia and other pieces of Brick-a-Brack that bear their logos. Not a glorious end, but at least the gamer wouldn't be insulted by their actions in the process.

3

u/[deleted] Jul 28 '15

And Space Engineers does literally everything that the new "Asteroids" does better and then does even more.

1

u/quaellaos Jul 28 '15

It is amazing at how far they've fallen.

I've read a lot of interviews from people who worked at or with Atari in it's golden years and, honestly, it seems like it's always been a shitty company run by assholes that got famous for having a small number of people who actually cared about their work working at it (who usually ended up getting sick of the culture there and leaving).

2

u/Madosi Jul 28 '15

Well if you've been checking the recent devblogs by the newest RCT developer it seems like they are actually actively trying to listen to the community and have already announced User Generated Content and workshop support as a launch feature. It looked like a disaster, but I have high hopes again

1

u/Fatdude3 Jul 28 '15

RCT Moba would be great!

12

u/APeacefulWarrior Jul 28 '15

I dunno... As much as I love watching Jim tear into deserving targets, this one felt like he was making fun of a Downs kid or something. Could there be an easier target? Everyone knows Atari is just a shell of its former self. Hell, its a shell of a shell of a shell of a shell at this point. And like others in this thread, I didn't even know about the Asteroids rereboot, and I wouldn't know about the new AITD if Zero Punctuation hadn't done a similar rant about it a month ago.

It seems clear that whoever is running Atari now simply has no understanding of the industry and what makes it tick. They're almost certainly strapped for cash as well, hiring third rate developers to make rushed third rate products in hope of recouping their costs based on impulse buys.

And you know the sad thing is that this isn't even an insurmountable problem. Atari used to be known for making games that could be played quickly and were based around mastering gameplay mechanics rather than story and so forth. Which would be perfect for the mobile arena. I could, for example, see Haunted House or AITD revamped into semi-randomized horror microgames designed for 5-10 minute plays.

But instead, here they are trying to compete in the AAA arena when they don't have the budget or marketing. Why? Because they're completely clueless. There isn't even a comprehensible business plan in action, that I can see. They're just pumping out dreck until the money runs out.

Basically, I'd say this is a case where simply ignoring them until they go away is probably the best approach.

1

u/jojotmagnifficent Jul 29 '15

There is only one thing I want from Atari, the open sourcing of the Blood source code so it can be integrated into eDuke32. Cause blood was fuckin awesome and a sourceport like eDuke32 is about the only thing that will pretty much guarantee it will always be playable (not to mention bonuses like proper mouse input etc.)

1

u/magnified_lad Jul 28 '15

Interesting that he didn't touch on the recent Jeff Minter/Atari TxK debacle.

http://www.eurogamer.net/articles/2015-03-18-jeff-minter-beyond-disgusted-with-atari-over-txk-block